Which Style Home Would You Choose?

By Kate Riley • January 13, 2012

I notice the architectural details of homes everywhere I go, I just can’t stop, it’s an obsession of mine. My mister has grown accustomed to me shouting “Stop the car! Check out that house!” followed up by “I neeeeed to take a picture!”. This happens a lot when we take a road trip or travel, we drive around the neighborhoods to get a feel for the real estate in the region. I love so many styles from Colonial to Craftsman and it’s so hard to commit to just one favorite. Are any of you the same? Do you go pretend house hunting too?

Anyway, I thought it would be fun this weekend to find out what style of home is your favorite. Is is a country farmhouse that makes you swoon, or a modern contemporary structure that makes you go ga ga? Here’s a look at ten popular styles of residential architecture in America, and then you can vote for your favorite at the end!

1. Craftsman Bungalow: Triangular low pitched roofs and mixed materials of brick, wood, and stone make this style of home one of the most popular in the country. Craftsman bungalows have recessed covered porches with tapered square columns, overhanging eaves, decorative brackets, and exposed rafters.

2. Spanish Pale stucco, arched entries and window, and tile roofs with no overhanging eaves define this appealing architecture seen mostly in the western states. You’ll often find terra cotta tile underfoot and many Spanish style homes have courtyards in front or back with lush gardening.

3. Tuscan Similar to the Spanish style, Tuscan homes are most often stucco as well, but typically have more stone and their exteriors are shades of brown, terra cotta, or other vibrant warm colors like the many homes in the idyllic Italian region.

4. Colonial Several different periods fall under this category but when we think of a classic colonial that usually includes a symmetrical facade with flared hip roofs, small recessed entries, and dormers. Colonials are often trimmed in keystones and/or shutters flanking the windows.

5. Victorian These homes from the Victorian era feature steeply pitched roofs in irregular shapes, full front porches, patterned shingles, and round turrets. Many times the gingerbread details are enhanced with a multicolored palette of paint colors.

6. Tudor Multiple gables and steeply pitched roofs are iconic traits of a classic Tudor. They also include arched entries, brick chimneys, and the common half timbering design on the second story. They vary in size from the smaller cottage to the larger estate.

7. Shingle Popular in coastal regions especially the northeast, shingle homes have rough hewn cedar siding that can be painted, stained, or weathered. This relaxed style typically has irregular rooflines and eaves, but it’s the siding more than the architecture that defines this home.

8. Farmhouse This style is found in the country and suburban communities all across the fruited plains and includes clapboard siding and those charming wrap around covered porches supported by square or round columns.

9. Ranch Ranch style homes are usually story houses with a low roofline, simple open floorplans, small porches, and attached garages. They often reflect the materials of their region, including brick or wood siding.

10. Contemporary Famous for their stark geometric lines and varied rectangular elements, contemporary homes are always a true reflection of the architect. Exposed concrete, singular glass panes, and horizontal wood siding are common elements that define this modern style.

Oh, and speaking of home exteriors, you can see my most recent article at My Colortopia called Choosing Exterior Paint Color … one of the most important decisions a homeowner can make! Be sure to check it out, you’ll see a few classic styles of homes in my neighborhood.

145 comments

Interesting . . . and so difficult to choose just one! If I were to buy a new home today I would look for a contemporary one, but I love spanish style (my southern California preference), ranch (my northern California roots), and tuscan (daydreaming). It’s fun to dream.

Interesting. We actually live in a bungalow built in 1932 and love it! My second choice would have been Tudor which is not nearly as popular but they always have neat accents like gothic arched doors or stained glass windows.

Tudor and Craftsman/Arts & Crafts are hands-down my favorites. We used to own an English Tudor style Arts & Crafts home circa 1909. Now we live in an Arts & Crafts house built in 1900 (a bit more plain and fortress-like on the exterior). We’ve also owned a Victorian house, an 1883 brick house that doesn’t fit into any of those styles, and a nondescript house built in the 1950s with no particular style at all (and built by the first owner out of salvaged lumber & other materials).

we love the craftsman style mixed with just a bit of farmhouse. we have our forever house plans picked out, and that is what it looks like….covered porches with swings and fans, but the craftsman mix of stone, etc…..and a loft to boot!!

Shingle all the way! But I’m from MA and we have lots and lots of them around here. That would be my style for sure! My house is missing from the list…I live in a Cape Cod style home. Different than the shingle…Capes are aplenty here too.

I have always love colonial homes, but now I absolutely love craftsman bungalow. For me it is a toss up. Unfortunately they pretty much only have southwest where I live- which happens to be my absolute least favorite style of home!

I am an East-Coast girl and I adore Colonial Homes with a centre hall plan. That has always been my favourite style of house. I would think that house styles would be a regional thing…different styles suit different needs and climates. I am from Nova Scotia, and you would never see a Spanish style there. Contemporary would not be a common thing either. Victorians, Colonials, Cape Cods and split levels would be the most common types of houses there. Have a great weekend Kate! Angie xo

I always told my husband if he ever built me a house, I wanted a brand new craftsman style home! We lived in one built in 1929 and I absolutely loved it! Now I live in a ranch style house. Still love it but not my absolute favorite.

Oh, so many of these, but my favorite from the outside is Colonial, so simple and classic, kind of like the little black dress in homes. But I don’t usually like them as much on the inside, they don’t really have a good flow and too way too many formal rooms.

I love the look of the second tudor, but don’t really care for the barn-look of the first. I’ve always liked the arches and stone walls or accents. But I love the big porches of the farmhouses, too. Not sure how to mix those two styles! :)

This was a terrific post. My husband and I are currently working on plans for our forever home. The exterior is a real challenge. This helped us narrow down our style. We’re thinking something with a craftsman influence fits what we like. Your descpritions were very helpful.

This was fascinating and informative…I think it is usually the one characteristic that draws us or puts us off from each style. For eg, the wraparound porch of farmhouses does it for me (I don’t really care if the rest of the house is shaped differently!) and what puts me off the Victorian is the round turrets – creeps me out (imagining what lurks behind those curtains!)…hahahaha!

I think you left one out…1970’s split level. Haha! It wouldn’t be my first choice of design, I guess, but I love the one I live in because of the people who live in it with me and because of our amazing community. They make it worth living in an architectural nightmare. :) But if I could choose, I’d go Craftsman for sure. They remind me of Berkeley and Tilden Park and Eucalyptus and Redwood trees.

I like lots of styles … but my absolute favorite is the Spanish style. Of course, as you said, I’m from california…so no big surprise. I love the stucco and the stone work. Even though my home isn’t that architecture on the outside, per se, I have integrated some of that inside and in the back yard. I love Mexican pavers and have use them inside and out.[email protected]

I pick Craftsman. We used to live in a 1915 and it was a great house. When these became popular builders were starting to “get” that homes need to use storage effectively.. so lots of built-ins and cubbies. They were also starting to embrace a more open concept of living..very different from Victorian with it’s little formal rooms that closed off.. Craftsman homes have a more open feel in Living and Dining spaces, still functional for living today. I think they are wonderful historical homes that still function and live in today’s world without the need for major floor plan changes.

it really is hard to choose one out of so many. but it´s so interesting. i´d choose a mixture of colonial, shingle and farmhouse :-) but here in europe you can hardly, and i mean hardly ever!, find a house in those kind of styles (my choosen ones). many houses here are tuscon and spanish influenced (in austria and germany).

I’ve picked Spanish, as it’s so totally different to what i’m used to – i’m in the UK and our home styles are NOTHING like any of these. I pretty much like all of them except the examples of ranch and tudor.
Maybe there are nicer versions of these, but of the pictures you’ve posted, the ranch style just doesn’t inspire any feelings at all in me, and the tudor looks far too modern and artificial. But that’s probably just cos i’m used to seeing real Tudor – this is just up the road from me!http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Moreton_Hall

I definitely need 14 homes because I love them all! Coming from the established suburbs of Long Island’s north shore, I love a traditional colonial, but I think my real true love is contemporary (perhaps because I live among many traditional colonials!) A very close second is the shingle style….love that beachy, open feel.

I really different things about each style home, but if I could have one of these, I would hands down pick the top one in the shingle category! I didn’t see one single thing about that house that I didn’t just love!!

So hard to pick just one! My top three would be Colonial, Shingle and Farmhouse. We stop the car to take pictures of houses while we’re traveling too. The only style on the list that doesn’t catch my eye or interest, just because it’s not “me”, is Contemporary.

Oh, this is SOOOO hard!!! I am a midwest girl, so am drawn to Farmhouse, Cape Cod styles but also love Victorian and Craftsman style and have been dreaming of a shingle beach home for a long time!! Currently live in a remodeled old Farmhouse (LOVE)..but also had a farmhouse/cape style for our first home.. LOVE!!… I am waiting for my beach cottage or I could be persuaded to live in a Tuscan villa.. in Italy of course!! :-)

I’ve always lived in a Colonial style, but I LOVE a Craftsman. I also really like Victorian, but I usually don’t like the interior — Victorian houses tend to be choppy and dark inside. My husband likes Tudors and Colonials.

EASY question for me! Farmhouse is absolutely #1 followed by Victorian. My hubby knows to drive slowly through old neighborhoods, too — and it doesn’t even matter if they’re derelict. Sometimes those are the homes that call my name the loudest. (Sigh…) Lucky for me I am living in my once-derelict-now-lovingly-restored 1907 house. Yeah, what a great man I married!

Not a lot of those styles really with with Australia’s weather… so I chose the one that could most easily be adapted for passive solar, sustainability etc could handle our hot summers (49.2 degrees Celsius at my Nanna’s the other day) and then the chill in winter.
:)

My two favorites seem like complete opposites. I love Craftsman and Spanish! I wanted so bad to buy a 1920’s Spanish house when we bought our first house, instead we ended up in a boring townhouse… maybe next time. Around here most of our houses are ranches. I am a fan of the 60s ranch, but the 70s and 80s not so much.

Too hard to choose just one. I also suppose it depends where you live. In my suburb of Cleveland, you have four choices in order of the age of the home: victorian (almost all are falling apart:-(, tudor, colonial revival, cape cod/shingle. I bought a mid century colonial revival. But I have to say that I love all the styles you presented.

What fun! Oh I sooo do that too. Since I was a little girl I have been a fanatic about house styles. As I’ve traveled around the US it’s been so amazing to see the different styles favored in areas. Two of my favorite places to see great examples are: Columbus, OH, mostly the Upper Arlington area has AMAZING examples of Tudor style house, and Kennebunkport, ME, my personal favorite place in the US, and they have wonderful examples of Early American styles. (I am trying to learn all the little details of what makes it one style from another in the Early American styles, eg: Federal, Colonial, etc. I just group them all together now) Little Bit from DecorateWithaLittleBit.com

funny you should post about this! Just yesterday my husband and I were driving around looking at houses, and we decided if a bungalow had a baby with a Victorian, it would be our dream home. Whatever the home is, it’s gotta be old-fashioned with a big porch!

I picked the Craftsman with the Victorian as a close second. The city I live in is full of both along with the Four Square which I live in. If the economy ever bounces back I would love to sell my home and move into a Craftsman.

Thank you! This prompted a discussion with my husband, and now I know a little bit more how to get him to participate in the design conversation. I lean towards historical homes: Spanish, Tudor, and Colonial. He really liked the Dwell house with the modern addition. Very interesting!

Had to pick Victorian, cause that’s what we have – c. 1904. The details are amazing – stained glass, woodwork, builtins! But we don’t choose to decorate with Victorian furnishings – tooo much! We’re keepin’ it real with a light, eclectic mix.

I love the shingled and farmhouse styles for the outside of a home. But, I have to say, I don’t like living in a two story house. I always find actually living in a ranch style house the most comfortable.

Absolutely without a doubt my fav is the Craftsman bungalow. It’s my dream to own one someday. My favorite architect is Frank Lloyd Wright so it’s only natural that I have an affinity for these types of homes. I’m a Sacramento resident right now so I love to cruise through the older areas and oogle over all the wonderful architecture. I was raised in Georgia so the plantation style home was my fav until I discovered the craftsman.

Farmhouse! I sooo love the look of a big wraparound porch. We’re more in the rural area, but not rural enough for me. My dream house would be a big ol’ farmhouse on at least 50+ acres that looks old in the architectural details, but has a more modernist layout with kitchen and family room in the back that are opened up to each other. That’s my dream right there. :)

As I was scrolling down I kept saying to myself, not that, not that, and then when I saw the Tudor I fell in love. Which is strange because my interiors are definitely contemporary. Tudor has always meant stability and success to me. Love your newsletter and keep them on file for reference. Thank you so much, Kate.

We have lived in the South and then in the Mountain West and now in the Southwest and have loved seeing the different architectural styles of the regions. When we lived in the South we swore we wanted homes with columns and farmhouse and modified colonial homes. THen we lived in the Mountain West and found the ranch homes a little boring at times but so fun when they incorporated other features like the tudor peaks or the bungalow porches. Now in the southwest I love my stucco home with tile roof. I feel like I really live in the Southwest.

So, so difficult since every photo shown is beautiful. While I most gravitate to the Craftsman Bungalow (which best suits my decorating style), I’m so drawn to the Contemporary homes! That settles it; I simply need two homes.

You didn’t mention my favorite: Pueblo style homes! Here in the Southwest, you see a lot of adobe pueblo homes. Flat roofed, stucco (or some are actual adobe but it’s rare), dark orange brown or tan, inside there are sometimes arched doorways or wood trimmed doorways, some have wood beamed ceilings. Some of the houses have adorable courtyards I absolutely love pueblo homes!! In fact, our second and third choice houses were pueblo style… but we opted for a 1950s ranch bungalow that was a bit cheaper. :) Can’t wait to move in and make it ours!

There’s simply no way I could choose a favorite. As I would scroll down, I would say to myself, “Oh, that’s my favorite!” Then I’d get to the next one, and say, “Oh wait…THAT’S my favorite!” The only one I don’t like is the Ranch. That’s my problem…I like (almost) everything. That’s why it took me 3 years to start decorating my own home (sadly). I simply couldn’t settle on a style and a design plan!

I grew up in a farmhouse style home, close to where you live actually! It’s has beautiful stained wood siding and is on 2 acres of what was once an almond orchard. Not quite as typical as the Spanish styled homes that are so popular in Cali, probably why I love it so much. :)

I love different things about each style. Had to comment because the home in one of the photos you used as an example of a farmhouse belongs to my good friends. In fact we had our wedding reception on that lawn overlooking the water. I guess farmhouse is my favorite! :)

I grew up in a Ranch (not a huge fan-love having stairs!) in No Cal. Then as an adult lived on the east coast and bought our very first home-a Tudor. So charming, and so dark. We built a Colonial-perfect for the area, and really lovely. Now we’re back in California-Southern this time around-and we’re happily settled in a Spanish style. My absolute fave has always been shingle-we stayed years ago at a friend’s house in the Hamptons in a gorgeous shingled house. I always think of that house in “Something’s Gotta Give” or Ina Garten’s beautiful home-just dreamy.

I am the same way! I love to look at houses and I love every style. I can say though that the Craftsman style is my favorite. I dream of the day when I win the lottery so that I can have one of these beautiful homes for myself…

Whew! That WAS tough. I mean, not like choosing between cheesecake or caramel brownies tough or anything, but it was hard to decided…mostly because, as I’m sure is true with so many other folks, I’m a hodge-podge of styles–farmhouse, colonial, craftsman, and shingle all appeal to me on various levels.

I am just like you! LOVE houses…and have been lucky to have lived in some great ones! A converted Barn, a 1800’s farmhouse, and our current spanish hacienda. I was a little surprised by the votes…Gotta say!

What a fantastic and informative post! My top two favourites are Colonial and Spanish…my dream is to live in a Colonial (you know the English Country/Hampton style house), and have a Spanish vacation home! Is that too much to dream for? :-)

Awww…. great post. Thanks for posting about that. German houses differ from Americans, so I didn’t know what the houses were called. But I love the Victorian houses. I love them, I want to live in one…
Greetings from Germany
Catrin

Oh – wow. Thank you for publishing this. I’ve always wondered about the styles, and seeing it all on one page, so helpfully explained, is great! I personally love me a gorgeous Spanish-style home. The idea of terracotta tiles underfoot is so appealing.

At first I couldn’t choose, I really do like them all, except the modern style. But as I scrolled back through I had to choose the craftsman. It’s the style that made my heart smile just a bit more than the others.

My favorite is the Colonial. It keeps with my traditional decorating style. I am also drawn to the Farmhouse as my roots are country. Thank you for this post. It will be interesting to see the results of the poll. Love and Blessings,

Spanish Revival is my favorite, followed by the New England beach-y shingle houses. Spanish is surprisingly not uncommon in DC and I love how fresh it looks mixed in with the more traditional Colonials.

I have a beautiful brick house but man that craftsman is beautiful. The part of Texas I live in its all brick and you will be hard pressed to find anything else but I have always love the look of the craftsman

I chose contemporary, but my true favorite is a mid-century modern. A lot of people would lump this into the ranch style, but the lines, layouts, and colors are very different from the 70s – 00s styles that you typically associate with a ranch. Mid century design was all about function and maximizing living areas in the home, frequently incorporating an outdoor living area via walls of windows or indoor courtyards. They tend to be smaller than what today’s homebuyers are accustomed to, but they pack a lot of function into that space. Contemporary homes pull a lot of inspiration from mid century design, but they tend to be super-sized and feel colder. Give me pink bathrooms and turquoise kitchens any day!

Those houses are beautiful, but I looooove the craftsman style bungalow. My fav is found here, the Chicago bungalows. They are gorgeous brick houses with amazing detail. You can see some awesome ones here:

I love the Craftsman! I too am one of those wives that say “Pull over I need to look at that house!!!” I really do love the Greek Revival houses the best. My husband served an LDS mission in kentucky and I’ve always wanted to travel to the south and eventually live in a huge Antebellum Mansion. Thank you for your post! I really enjoyed reading about the different styles and it was so nice to have them all in front of me at once!

I wanted to thank you for this post. We’re thinking about buying a house, so my husband and I have been doing a lot of window shopping. This is great for someone like me who doesn’t know all the terminology. Thanks!

Love, love, love the Spanish! It reminds me of my favorite place on earth, Santa Barbara. Too bad I live in northeastern Pennsylvania, where this style of home does not exist. Maybe someday we can build one :-)

I love shingle style, but we have just bought a Craftsman/Low County house – newish, but looking very much like the vernacular. The interior reads true 1920s Craftsman with mahogany entry door, columned pony walls delineating a gallery hall, and beadboard everywhere. I need to regroup my decorating to be a bit more casual, as well as buy furniture for a front porch and a screened back porch which run the width of the house.

While house hunting we drove by a 3 story aqua and lime green coastal house, built for the views. Those colors may sound odd, but they were stunning. Yes, I did my “stop the car – where’s my camera?” routine. It was for sale and was everything I wanted – exquisite decor, Brazilian cherry floors, elevator, white marble, multiple porches on every floor to capture the view. Sadly, it was on a busy road, in a flood plain and we just plain would never fit into it! I’ve saved every picture of the place. It was really not at all like the house we bought. I think I could eventually wrap my head around just about any style of house. Since I’ve lived many places, I know it can be done.

Hello, I'm Kate! I'm a renovator, decorator, and do-it-yourselfer who writes about great interior design and home improvement. Welcome to the place where I share my advice and adventures in decorating and DIY projects! Learn more.